News

Members of the Coventry Beekeepers Association will be on site at Ryton Gardens between 3.00 pm and 4.30 pm on the following dates to speak to visitors about bees

• 20th May
• 17th June
• 22nd July
• 19th August
• 16th September

Master Composters and Gardeners will be on site in the NEW Compost and Soil Fertility Garden between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm on the following weekends to offer visitors help and advice on all things to do with composting

• April 21st & 22nd
• May 19th & 20th
• June 16th & 17th
• July 21st & 22nd
• August 18th & 19th
• September 15th & 16th

Come and try sessions – find out about RHS level 2 and 3 courses (practical and theory) and horticulture master classes. Book for the day or any session

FREE Taster Session

For further details contact

enquiries@bestinhorticulture.co.uk or call 07544 512501

Ryton Gardens very popular Potato Day on the 28th and 29th January can now be seen on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXe7zhN8Q_c&NR=1&feature=endscreen

5th January 2012

From February 2012, B.E.S.T in Horticulture Ltd ( Bespoke Education & Specialist Training) will be running accredited horticultural qualifications at Ryton Gardens. The new RHS courses in theory and practice, from adult to beginner level 2 to advanced level 3 will be taught on Thursdays and Saturdays

Further information can be obtained by calling 07544 512501 or www.bestinhorticulture.co.uk

From 1/2/12 Heritage Seed Library Members will be able to enjoy entry to Ryton Gardens at the reduced concession rate on production of a valid membership card

Garden Organic has produced a handy Information Sheet on the various ways people can support its work – from making a donation to volunteering, membership and legacy giving, all the information you need to help us grow

How You Can Help Garden Organic

Alan Wilson who gave a talk at Potato Day yesterday will be signing copies of his new book “The People’s Potatoes in the Potato Marquee and shop today

23rd January 2012

The new site leaflet including details of events on site and a number of money saving vouchers is now available to download form the homepage in the Visitor Information Box

10th January 2012

News of our Wassail event this weekend in The Coventry Evening Telegraph

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2012/01/09/wassail-event-planned-at-ryton-gardens-to-bless-apple-orchard-92746-30082861/

4th January 2012

Work is well under way on the planning of this years Potato Day on the 28th and 29th of January

Activities already confirmed include;

• over 100 varieties of potatoes available for people to buy, either individually or
• a potato advisory desk
• children’s activities
• talks and demonstrations by Alan Romans, Alys Fowler, Christopher Trotter & Alan Wilson
• Tours of the garden and
• a potato related menu in the Cafe

More details will be added to the website as they are confirmed

3rd January 2012

We are currently looking for a number of volunteer gardeners to help with a range of activities in the gardens, all ranges of experience are welcome.

Please see the attached job description for further details Volunteer Gardener Job Description

3rd January 2012

A quirky British custom will be kept alive this winter when Garden Organic holds its annual Wassail on Sunday 15 January.

The Wassail, taking place at Ryton Gardens, is a custom that originates in the cider-making regions of South West England and is celebrated close to old Twelfth Night. As well as songs and dances the custom involves blessing apple trees to encourage a bumper apple harvest for the coming year.

From the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘wes hal’, meaning good health, the Wassail casts aside the winter to make way for spring. To celebrate this vibrant, centuries old custom, visitors are invited to kick up their heels and join in the fun for free from 11.00am to 1.00 pm.

The apple tree will be blessed from around 11.30am

Ryton Gardens was featured on The Hairy Bikers Best of British programme yesterday. Please view the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b018tx5n/?t=14m19s

20th December 2012

Ryton Gardens was featured on Sunday’s edition of Countryfile . The programme can be viewed o the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b018tx5n/?t=14m19s

14th December

Ryton Gardens is looking for a number of Voluntary Visitor Service Assistants to help with admissions to the gardens next year

Visitor Services Assistant Job Description

12th December 2012

Garden Organic will be appearing on two major BBC TV programmes over the next 7 days.

Firstly on Countryfile on Sunday 18th December at 7.00pm on BBC One. Head Gardener Andy Strachan accompanies Countryfile’s John Craven to find a modern day equivalent to Frankincense and Myrrh. Part of this film was made at Ryton Gardens.

Secondly on Hairy Bikers: Best of British on Monday 19th December at 3.45pm on BBC One (this programme has now been given a BBC One slot). This item centres on the work of the Heritage Seed Library and features the Bikers sampling some of our veg collection.

The below links provide more info:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018wb8l
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018tx5n

5th December 2012

The list of potatoes available for sale at our Potato day event on Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th January 2012 is now available

Potato Day – Varieties for sale

Please note that all potato varieties are subject to supplier availability

5th December 2012

The menu for Potato day on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th January 2012 is shown below

Potato Day Restaurant Menu

Leek & Potato Soup V+ GF £4.25

Warm Potato & Bacon Salad with honey & mustard dressing and Garden leaves GF £4.50

Vegetable Frittata V GF £4.25

***

Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding & Roast Potatoes £11.95

Lamb Casserole with Dauphinoise potatoes GF £10.95

Sweet Potato & Vegetable Curry with basmati Rice GF V+ DF £9.95

***

Apple & Sultana Crumble with Pecans served with Cream V or Toffuti V+ £4.50

Bread & butter Pudding with Cream £4.25

Sticky Toffee Pudding served with Ice cream £4.50

The Cafe will be serving Soup, jacket potatoes, baguettes, Panini’s, sandwiches, snacks cakes etc in the morning. The restaurant will do breakfast sarnies toast etc till 11am

1st December 2012

John Craven in discussion with Head Gardener Andy Strachan and the BBC Countryfile film crew who were at Ryton Gardens this morning

1st December 2012

Due to the popularity of the Garden Information Sheets, 4 more have been produced.

• 2 for the new Exotic Garden
• 1 for The Flowers for Pleasure Garden and
• 1 for The Cook’s Garden

The information sheets are available at the entrance to most gardens and copies can be downloaded form the ineteractive map of the gardens on this website

28th November 2011

Parents and carers stuck for how to entertain the children during this Wednesday’s day of strikes are being urged to head outdoors to Ryton Gardens, near Coventry.

A strike-free destination, Ryton Gardens is open all day from 9am – 5pm on Wednesday 30 November and what’s more entry is free for everyone! Mark Wilkinson, Visitor Manager at Ryton Gardens said;

“What better excuse to get outside and spend some time with the kids during the run up to Christmas away from the computer or TV! Children can enjoy an Autumn trail, giant games and exploring the ten acres of organic gardens, and all for free. The ideal place to let off steam there’s also the chance for all the family to have lunch in the organic restaurant or do a spot of Christmas shopping.”

Ryton Gardens is open from 9.00am to 5.00pm, entry is free until Friday 27 January 2012. For more information visit www.rytongardens.co.uk or call 024 76303517

18th November 2011

The UK’s longest running event dedicated solely to spuds will gear up for its 17th consecutive year in 2012, promising a real treat for potato growing enthusiasts!

Potato Day on Saturday 28th January (members only) and Sunday 29 January 2012 (open to all), has been made famous by Garden Organic for almost two decades and has helped make potatoes a ‘must grow’ for many a Briton’s gardening year. As a result more of us are growing our own portion of the average 500* potatoes we eat each annually.

With over 120 varieties, 40 of them organic, Potato Day at Ryton Gardens, Warwickshire, will give budding growers the chance to buy seed potatoes in packs or by the tuber, meaning anyone with enough space for a potato grow bag, or an entire allotment plot can get started right away.

Garden Organic’s Pauline Pears, who has been at every Potato Day since they began in 1995, said, ”Many people think the growing season begins in spring, but thanks to our Potato Day, people can start thinking about gardening in January! This is the ideal time to buy seed potatoes and start chitting them ready for growing. Potatoes are a simple crop to grow and ideal whether your garden is large or small. The taste of home grown, freshly dug spuds is a taste hard to beat.”

At the event, visitors can buy seed potatoes by the tuber and learn all about spuds with talks and tips from the experts. Garden Organic’s Heritage Seed Library Seed Swap also takes place, granting visitors access to swap common garden seeds in return for something more unusual and rare.

National Potato Day on Saturday 28 January and Sunday 29 January 2012 takes place at Ryton Gardens, near Coventry, 10am �“ 4pm. Admission applies. Call 024 76303517 for more information.

We asked our Master Gardeners which varieties yielded success on their veg patch and they responded with a wealth of top tips!

Rosemary Guiot
“My current favourite is Kestrel: normally a good crop and a delicious potato.”

Rodney King
“Pink Fir Apple is well worth growing. Good flavour and waxy texture, and is good hot or cold with salads and with pasta dishes. I grew them for the first time last year and had a reasonable yield.”

Sue and Mike Sanderson
“Our favourites from last year are Rooster, good crop of large red skinned potatoes, great for baking in jackets. Also Pink Fir Apple, reliable cropper in bags or in the soil, lovely taste!”

Robert Taylor
“For early potatoes I have found Orla to be best, and last year I had a very large crop of Cara potatoes, good for baking or roasting. Desiree and Anya were good and we’ re still eating them.”

Joe and Margaret Guttridge
“We like pink fir apple, a main crop salad potato. This variety is the first main crop we have really felt worthwhile growing, basically because it tastes like an early spud even when eaten later in the year, which most spuds don’t, and it doesn’t boil to a ‘mush’ and therefore works well in stews.”

John and Sandy Young
“Sharpe’s Express is our favourite. Always grown in a bed close to home to be able monitor the growing conditions. Recently we have started to grow Swift – very early potato and a nice shape.”

Ted Hatwood
“In most cases I have found that ‘red’ potatoes tend to perform better. Two others worth mentioning are Sarpo Axona and Sarpo mira. I’ve grown these many times and cannot fault them.”

Marie Wellings
“Vales Emerald grown in an old cooking tin gave a good crop and tasted nice. Maris Peer gave less yield but tasted very creamy, both to us and the mice that took a liking to them!”

14th November 2011

An item filmed a few weeks ago by the makers of the Great British Food Revival on our Heritage Seed Library beetroot and Adopt a Veg gift will air this Wednesday (16 th November) at 7pm on BBC Two.

11th November 2011

Work started this week on the construction of the new Compost & Soil Fertility Garden at the entrance to the gardens.

The area, which was part of The Herb Garden has been cleared, with the herbs being replanted elsewhere in the gardens and work is well under way on the hard landscaping elements of the new garden.

The intention is to officially open this new garden at The Get Set Grow event on Sunday 25th March 2012

7th November 2011

Planning is well under way for Potato Weekend

Saturday 28th – Garden Organic Member’s day

Sunday 29th – Public Day

More details of the activities for the weekend will appear on the website soon

31st October 2011

From Tuesday 1st November until Friday 27th January 2012 entry to Ryton Gardens will be FREE to reflect the fact that there will be some exciting new developments taking place over the coming months.

The changes to the gardens include the development of a new Compost and Soil Fertility Garden (which is due to open in the Spring of 2012) and the creation of a larger events area in the middle of the gardens.

20th October 2011

Mark Wilkinson, Visitor Manager at Ryton Gardens will be undertaking a tandem parachute jump at Tilstock Airfield, near Whitchurch in North Shropshire on Friday 21^st October 2011 to raise funds for 2 charities close to his heart.

Mark said;

“ My wife very kindly purchased the parachute jump and a new life insurance policy for my birthday! As the cost of the jump was covered, I thought I’d use the opportunity to raise money for the new Compost and Soil Fertility Display at Ryton Gardens which is due to be opening in the spring of 2012 and Action Aid a charity fighting Third World poverty, which I have supported for a number of years”

He added;

“ I’m a bit of an adrenalin junkie and love my birthday surprises which have included; rally driving, a microlight flight, helicopter trail lesson and flying a bi-plane, but this is something else and I can’t wait to see what the view is like from 10,000 feet and the feeling as I fall 5,000 in a matter of seconds”

If anyone is interested in supporting either of these charities by sponsoring me, I have set up 2 Just Giving accounts

www.justgiving.com/Mark-Wilkinson2 – for Garden Organic

www.justgiving.com/Mark-Wilkinson3 – for Action Aid

18th October 2011

The Heritage Seed Library at Ryton Gardens featured on last Friday’s BBC Gardeners’ World programme shown on BBC2 – follow the link to see the show. The piece about The Heritage Seed Library is on after about 18 minutes

BBC Gardeners’ World

12th October

The BBC Gardeners’ World team will be featuring an item on The Heritage Seed Library in this Friday’s programme on BBC 2 at 8.00pm

12th October 2011

On Friday 7th October Ryton Gardens hosted an EXCLUSIVE event for subscribers of the BBC Gardeners’ World magazine.

The day included;

3 Worshops

• Planning Your Organic Vegetable Garden
• Choosing and Planting Organic fruit
• Managing Pests and Diseases Organically

In addition there were Tours of the gardens with the Head Gardener, a behind the scenes look at the work of The Heritage Seed Library and a Questions and Answers Session.

Feedback from the event has been extremely positive

• 98% thought the course content was good or excellent

• 99% thought that the quality of the talks / tours was good or excellent and

• 88% thought that the value for money was either good or excellent

Further courses are planned for next year, so keep an eye out on our Events listing for further details

3rd October 2011

The view from my office window has changed. Once I looked out on rural England, ornamental borders, trees, neat trimmed hedgerows, vined arches and vegetables in ranks. Now I am transported to a corner of downtown Havana. A ‘rum shack’ blocks my view of the rustic idyll and strange plants peep over the top of the gaudily painted block walls. Just in view if I stand up are the ‘remains’ of a crumbling colonial veranda. This is the plot that our friend James Wong opened in August to a throng of faces from many different ethnic origins. This is our new Exotic Garden, destined to fill the Heritage Seed Library with a horde of new treasure that look and sound as though they might be more common by palm-fringed beaches lapped by sapphire-blue waters or in plots cut from rampant jungle. Seed for Hong’s shark’s fin melon, Vietnamese coriander, mouse melon and other crops came from the UK, in fact mostly from the region. Local people have been growing them and saving seed annually for resowing with the result that we now have selections that are better adapted to our climate – but not, I regret, frost tolerant.

If you hurry you might just be in time to see some of these exotica before our winter bites into their soft flesh and clears a swathe across the plot. Some of them will continue to flourish under the shelter of the fine glasshouse in that garden. There are few places that you can see these plants growing in England, so come and have a look.

Bob Sherman – Chief Horticultural Officer at Garden Organic

28th September 2011

The telephone lines are now working fine

28th September 2011

Unfortunately our telephone system is not working at the moment, so if you need to contact us, please use the email address enquiry@gardenorganic.org.uk

Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly!

20th September

NEW Garden Information Sheets have been introduced to give visitors more information about the individual gardens. These are currently available for

• The Paradise garden
• Bee Garden
• Top Fruit
• Soft Fruit
• Craftmen’s Trees
• RSPB Wildlife Garden
• Biodynamic Garden and
• Rose Garden

The sheets are located at the entrance to each of the gardens in a waterproof dispenser. Visitors are asked to return them to the holder once they have finished using them.

More Garden Information Sheets are in the process of being written and will be available shortly

A member of the Cuban Embassy, Counsellor Rafael Sardina Gonzalez, dropped by at Ryton Gardens this week to take a look at the new Exotic Garden.

Rafael, who is Head of Scientific and Cultural Office at the Cuban Embassy in London was shown around the garden, designed in the style of a Cuban organoponico by members of Garden Organic’s Sowing New Seeds team.

The Counsellor was particularly impressed with the garden and the planting and said it looked very familiar to those back at home, with one exception – that it didn’t have a mango tree!

Rafael Sardina Gonzalez was visiting Ryton Gardens as the guest of Dr Julia Wright, from the Centre for Agroecology and Food Security at Coventry University, who Garden Organic are working with on international project work.

TV stars the Hairy Bikers (Dave Myers and Si King) spent the morning filming at various locations throughout the gardens, highlighting the importance of heritage seeds before having lunch in the organic restaurant for their new TV show “Hairy Bikers Best of British” which will be showing in November.

FREE tours of the gardens leave from outside the Vegetable Kingdom at 11.30 am and 2.30 pm on weekends until the end of September

25th August 2011

A brand new garden built on the principles of an organoponico has been officially opened by TV star, James Wong, at Ryton Gardens.

Wong opened the Exotic Garden on a sunny August morning to a crowd of hundreds that had come to see the culmination of six months of planning, building and gardening work at the site.

The resulting garden, part of the charity’s Sowing New Seeds project to conserve the unusual crops being grown by ethnic communities on allotments in the Midlands, opened to visitors with a collection of vegetable varieties including Calaloo (Amaranth), Chinese Stem Lettuce, Shark Fin Melon, Karella, Vietnamese Mustard, and Dudi.

From a design perspective, the Exotic Garden not only showcases the diverse range of crops found on Midland allotments through the incorporation of a large organoponico (a type of urban food garden first started in Cuba) and three global garden beds, but also a folly of a colonial ruin and a ‘rum shack’ that doubles as an educational space for visitors.

Cutting through a ‘rope’ of plaited yard long beans, James Wong said: “I’m really excited by the work of Sowing New Seeds and proud to be opening its Exotic Garden, which is the perfect way to demonstrate the project’s fantastic collection of vegetables!”

The Sowing New Seeds project’s Anton Rosenfeld said: “Our cultural heritage is diversifying and with so many multiracial communities in the Midlands our gardening heritage is too. The Exotic Garden is one way of sharing this knowledge and we’re so pleased with how the garden and the project have been received so far.”

The Exotic Garden is now open to visitors at Ryton Gardens, Warwickshire. For more information on Sowing New Seeds please visit www.sowingnewseeds.org.uk

Sowing New Seeds is a Garden Organic project funded by the National Lottery, the Brook Trust, the Sheldon Trust and the Fund for the Environment and Urban Life.

24th August 2011

Ryton Gardens  is urging visitors to the site to tell them what they think about the 10 acres of gardens, shop, plant area and restaurant over the next month as part of their commitment to improving the visitor experience.

Mark Wilkinson, Ryton Garden Visitor Manager said:
“We want to hear what our visitors have got to say about the site and the way we are doing things. The results of the survey will help us to plan future changes and developments. As an incentive for visitors to complete the simple survey form, all completed surveys will be entered into a draw to win a Family Ticket to the gardens and a £20 voucher to be spent in the shop, plant area or restaurant”

Download a survey here

20th August  2011

TV personality and ethno-botanist, James Wong, will be helping Ryton Gardens celebrate the hot, spicy and exotic when it invites visitors along to a new summer event later this month.

The TV star will support ‘Chilli Day’ at Ryton Gardens on Saturday 20 August 10am – 4pm – a brand new initiative by Garden Organic and Webbs, perfect for anyone with a passion for growing, eating, or simply admiring the small yet fiery chilli.

During the day visitors can see a host of different chillies on display, take part in a chill taste test, buy chilli plants and enjoy a spicy menu in the restaurant. The event’s special guest, James Wong, will also open the charity’s brand new Exotic Garden dedicated to its Sowing New Seeds project, which seeks to share, learn about and save the unusual vegetables being grown by ethnic communities across the Midlands.

Wong will be at the event from 11am when visitors can see him open the Exotic Garden and catch him again later in the afternoon when he will give a talk and do a book signing.

Visitor Manager, Mark Wilkinson, said, “This is the first Chilli Day we’ve had here at Ryton Gardens and what better way to mark the event than with James Wong as our special guest! The day will have something for everyone and for those that really want to experience the might of the chilli – we’ll have a chilli taste test to take part in!”

As well as the day’s activities, visitors can also sign up to the One Pot Pledge and get free seeds to grow at home, enjoy ten acres of organic summer gardens, see Liam Ball’s stunning outdoor sculptures, take garden trails and play the giant games. An organic restaurant, plant sales area and shop are also on site. Entry fee to Chilli Day applies.

19th August 2011

See some pictures from our new exotic gardens.

18th July 2011

View some of the pictures from our brand new Giant Poppy Installations